The International Campus of Excellence Initiative in Spain

Abstract

This chapter analyses the Campus de Excelencia Internacional initiative – CEI, International Campus of Excellence – in Spain. The initiative was part of the broader Estrategia Universidad 2015 – EU2015 – (Ministerio de Educacion, 2008, 2009) and was officially launched in July 2009. The CEI initiative was strongly influenced by policy initiatives conceived in Europe in the same period, while at the same time expected to address problems central to the Spanish context. The Spanish higher education system is among the largest in Europe, with 1.9 million students and 150 thousands academic staff (including tenured and junior staff; Oecd, 2013). In recent years, resources invested in higher education grew from 0.96 % of in 2002 up to 1.35 % in 2008, while decreased after the economic crisis down to 1.23 % of GDP in 2012 (Eurostat database). Spanish universities had been regulated by the central authorities at the Ministry of Education until 1983, when the University Reform Act transformed them into autonomous bodies which transferred the direct responsibility over universities to the autonomous regions, although the devolution process was fully completed only in 1997 (Mora et al., 2000).